The European Gymnast Physical Culturists played a substantial role in the beginnings of Exercise Science and Physical Education. Swedish Gymnastics and the German Turnen organisations were a foundation from which the scientific discipline of Sport and Exercise Science and the Physical Education profession emerged. In 1813 with government support Pehr Henrik Ling founder of Swedish …read more

One of the most interesting parts of the Physical Culture Movement (learn more about the Movement here) is use of the term ‘Culture’. Using the term seems to expand the movement beyond just moving/strengthening bodies and in to subject areas such as society, customs and the creative arts. The largest cultural influence on the beginnings …read more

The Physical Culture Movement was a health and fitness movement that began in Europe during the 19th century, spreading to England and the United States it continued till the mid-20th century. The Movement’s ideology was driven by multiple factors and it had an eclectic group of contributors. The Physical Culture Movements legacy can still be …read more

The Physical Culture movement was an exciting time; emerging in Germany, England and the United States during the 19th century and continuing through to the mid-20th century it was a true ‘melting-pot’ of health philosophy. The movement had an eclectic group of contributors and was the foundation for many modern athletic and health science disciplines. …read more

As someone who walks the line of multiple movement based disciplines I often find the evidence driven Exercise Physiology part of my professional make-up trying to unpack what is happening with some of the Pilates exercises. At times Pilates exercises may not seem all that functional and there can be limited levels of progressive overload. …read more

In my own experience the common perception of what an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) does is prepare exercise programming. This is certainly a big part of an AEP’s skill set; however a common response of mine is, “An AEP can prepare the best, most clinically appropriate exercise program, but does it get done”. In situations …read more

Late last year I participated in a respectful online professional debate, it’s not something I regularly do, however the topic was one I’m very passionate about. I was engaged with multiple online ‘adversaries’ who seemed very fixed in their position; as I was the only counter-point to the discussion I felt somewhat vulnerable, I also …read more

I was reading a news article recently about some emerging science regarding the role inflammation plays in compromising the body’s immune system and how this may affect a person’s experience of depression. Whilst the overlap between the nervous system and immune system is not a new concept in some areas of healthcare, these ideas seem …read more

As an Exercise Physiologist I’m required to stay up-to-date with the appropriate scientific literature and use this to apply best practice treatment for clients. A piece of literature I find myself using a lot when working with shoulders (and particularly the shoulder blades) was undertaken by Cools et al. (2007). The goal of this study …read more

Here goes, first Blog post, so thought I would talk about my professional influences and how they drive my movement philosophy. This philosophy is a product of the movement disciplines, Remedial Massage, Pilates and Exercise Physiology. REMEDIAL MASSAGE: My introduction to the world of movement, where I first looked at an Anatomy and Physiology text, …read more

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When I studied Remedial Massage we were told the origins of the profession were to be found in the Swedish Gymnastics system created by Pehr Henrik Ling (1776-1839) (learn more here). Following this we learnt a Massage style called Swedish ...read more

Pilates gave us his wonderful method of physical and mental conditioning, however some of his ideas were informed by the times and the Physical Culture Movement represents those times. The Physical Culture Movement followed a timeline that started in Europe, ...read more

During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the Swedish Gymnasts full of pride for their system began questioning the prevailing health practises of the time. Thus a rivalry with Physicians practising Pharmacological medicine devloped that was called the, ‘Physiologists v ...read more

The Strongman Physical Culturists (learn more about the Physical Culture Movement here) emerged around the mid-1800’s (Watson et al. 2005); they blended the systematic approach of the European Gymnasts with traditional Viking and Highland events such as the shot-put and ...read more